Pavement grooving process and apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and method for forming spaced parallel grooves in the surface of newly laid concrete pavement while the concrete is still in plastic condition, characterized by bodily moving over the surface of the plastic concrete pavement a rotating roller having spaced parallel outwardly projecting ribs on its periphery and simultaneously pressing the rotating roller against the upper surface of the pavement to imbed said ribs to their full depth in the pavement and to engage the peripheral surface of the roller with the surface of the pavement.

United States Patent 11 1 Perkins 1 1 PAVEMENT GROOVING PROCESS ANDAPPARATUS [76] Inventor: Glen E. Perkins, 1428 40th Ave.,

Rock Island, lll. 61207 122 Filed: Mar. 3, 1971 1211 Appl.No.: 120,636

[52] US. Cl. 404/75, 404/89 [51] Int. Cl. E016 11/24 [58] Field ofSearch 94/45 R, 46, 50 PR, 39, 94/44, 22, 5; 404/75, 89

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 774,005 11/1904 Thies 94/45R 324,166 8/1885 Riordan I 94/45 R 1,463,979 8/1923 Stubbs 94/24 958,3465/1910 William son 94/50 PR 3,361,043 1/1968 Beeson 94/39 993,086 5/1911Malloy 94/45 R 2,252,188 8/1941 Krchbiel 94/45 R 3,382,784 5/1968Loveland 94/45 R 1 1 Apr. 2, 1974 3,208,361 9/1965 Bidwell 94/45 R1,764,963 6/1930 Laster 94 50 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 638,4974/1962 ltaly 94/50 PR Primary Examiner-Nile C. Byers, Jr. Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Gary, .Iuettner, Pigott 8L Cullinan [57] ABSTRACT v 4Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PAVEMENT GROOVING PROCESS AND APPARATUSSUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In my Pat. Nos. 3,516,339 and 3,516,340, bothissued June 23, 1970, I have shown and described methods and apparatusfor extruding grooves, either longitudinally or transversely, into newlylaid concrete pavement while the concrete is still in plastic condition.As explained in said patents, longitudinal grooving appears at presentto offer significant advantages on highways, especially on curves and atexit and entrance ramps, while transverse grooving offers significantadvantages at landing and take-off areas of airport runways.Experimentation and experience will ultimately determine the relativeadvantages of transverse and longitudinal grooving for respectivepurposes, but it appears now that both types of grooving will beemployed to improve both highways and airport runways.

In my co-pending application, Ser. No. 212,256 filed Dec. 27, 1972 Ihave further shown novel apparatus specifically, recommended forextruding transverse grooves into pavement.

The present invention is directed to another method and means forforming grooves in the surface of plastic concrete pavement, eithertransversely or longitudinally thereof, which is not reliant on theextrusion principle of concrete finishing, but instead involvesmanipulation or working of the concrete surface. Specifically, theinvention is directed to a ribbed rotating roller, operating somewhat inthe fashion of a tube finisher, for working the grooves into thepavement and at the same time maintaining smoothness of the surface ofthe pavement between the grooves.

Particular features and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the detailed description, as taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a ribbed roller assemblysuitable for use in practice of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic side view of a concrete paving machine equippedwith the assembly of FIG. 1 as the final concrete workinginstrumentality thereon for forming grooves longitudinally of pavement;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary rear elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic side view of a machine equipped with saidroller for forming grooves transversely of freshly laid concrete;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentarycross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 4,taken substantially on line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view of concrete pavement groovedpursuant to this invention.

DESCRIPTION For the purpose of acquainting those skilled in the art withthe manner of making and using my invention, I have shown and will nowdescribe illustrative embodiments of pavement grooving apparatuspresently regarded to be the best mode of carrying the invention intopractice.

As shown in FIG. 1, the principal instrumentality required for practiceof this invention is a cylindrical roller 10 having spaced paralleloutwardly projecting ribs 12 on the periphery thereof. The ribs 12constitute the means for forming grooves in the freshly laid concreteand they therefore are of the size and cross-sectional configuration andmounted at the spacings specified by the highway engineers for thegrooves to be formed in the pavement. For example, as illustrated inFIG. 6, a currently recommended form of groove is of V-shape, about it:inch wide and 54; inch deep, and located on 34 inch centers. To formsuch grooves, the roll 10 would be equipped with circumferential ribs 12each of V- shape with a base inch wide and a depth of 6 inch and mountedon 54 inch centers. Other forms and sizes of ribs on other centers couldbe used with equal facility, provided the ribs are of shallow depth,i.e., the depth specified for the grooves to be formed in the pavement.

The roller 10 may be any roller suitable for the purpose and/orconventional in the art, such for example as the roll of tube finisherscurrently available on the market, which generally range about 8 inchesin diameter. The roll is rotatably supported at its ends by bearings 14,and a chain or gear drive 16 or the like is provided for positivelyrotating the roll from a prime mover 18, such as an electric orhydraulic motor. The direction and speed of roll rotation may be variedwithin the limits well established in the art for tube finishers, but Irecommend that the roll be rotated in such direction that the forwardsurface thereof (in the direction of bodily movement of the roll) movesupward, and that the peripheral speed of roll rotation be in the orderof 40-50 fpm. However, the prime mover 18 is preferably reversibleand ofvariable speed to accommodate rotation of the roll in such manner aswill produce the best results taking into consideration the nature andcondition of the paving material and the speed of bodily transport ofthe roll.

The roll is equipped with appropriate means, such as hydraulic cylinders20 connected to each of the bear-v ings 14, for raising and lowering theroll, preferably independently at each end thereof, for removing theroll from and engaging it with the surface of the freshly laid pavementand for pressing the roll onto the pavement with the force necessary toimbed each rib 12 to its full depth in the pavement and to bring theintervening areas of the peripheral surface of the roll into engagementwith the pavement surface.

In use, the roll is carried by the cylinders 20 on a suitable carriagecapable of straddling the freshly laid concrete, such for example as thecarriage of the concrete finishers previously referred to, or transversebrooming or surface texturing machines available on the market, orsimilar carriages specifically designed for the purpose, or evendirectly on a paving machine. The roll is rotated as aforesaid, thengradually engaged with the fresh concrete pavement and forced downwardlyuntil the ribs 12 are fully imbedded in the concrete and the peripheralsurface of the roll is brought into engagement with the surface 'of theconcrete. Thereafter, by means of the mounting carriage above referredto, the roll (while rotating) is bodily transported over the concretewhereupon the ribs displace the concrete and form grooves therein andthe peripheral surface of the roll between the ribs contacts andcontinually smooths the outer surface of the concrete between thegrooves. When operated independently of a paving machine, a suitablespeed of bodily transport for the roll could be in the order of 15 fpm.With the roll rotating upwardly at its forward side, in terms of thedirection of bodily movememt thereofia small mound or head of plasticconcrete will be developed immediately forwardly of the roll, as isconventional with roll finishers, which will aid in promoting a finelyfinished pavement surface meeting all requirements of modern highwaysand airport runways, which surface will have grooves formed thereinprecisely to specifications, all as illustrated in FIG. 6.

As above stated, the roll may be utilized to form grooves eithertransversely or longitudinally of the pavement. When used to formtransverse grooves, the roll is preferably mounted on a carriageindependent of the paving machine, but when used to form longitudinalgrooves it may be mounted either on an independent carriage or directlyon the paving machine. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, I have shown by wayof example a pair of the rolls 10 mounted on a slip form paver forforming longitudinal grooves in the pavement as it is being laid.

The machine illustrated in FIG. 2 comprises a slip form road building orpaving machine such as that more fully described in U. S. Pat. No.2,976,783 and which can be employed with the device of the presentinvention, namely the grooving roll 10, as its final element. Althoughnot restricted thereto, since my grooving roll can be operativelyassociated with other paving machines or adapted for use as a separatedevice, the paving machine of FIG. 2 comprises a frame portion 22supporting driving mechanism characterized by a primary power source,such as an internal combustion engine 24, for directly driving theoperative components of the machine, or for driving a generator tosupply power for electric motors used to operate the machine components,or for driving a hydraulic pump to supply pressure fluid to hydraulicmotors used to operate the machine components.

The frame portion 22 comprises spaced transverse and spaced longitudinalbeams joined to opposite slip forms 26 about which are disposedarticulated tracks 28 engaged at their opposite ends about sprocketwheels 30 driven from the engine 24, and which may bedriven jointly orseparately as is well known. At the forward portion of frame 22, atransverse beam and strike-off blade assembly 32 is carried with firstlevels off Portland cement concrete deposited thereat during forwardmovement of the machine to form a relatively flat mass of concretehaving a width equal to the distance between the slip forms 26 and aheight which may be substantially flush with the upper edges of saidslip forms. The resulting road mass is then densitied by vibrator means34 which imparts vibrations to the concrete of relatively high frequencyand relatively small amplitude. The vibration densifies the roadmaterial mass, and if the mass comprises concrete, fines are brought tothe surface of the mass and the heavier aggregate is submerged. Thus,the upper surface of the road material mass is brought to a consistencywhich permits it to be smoothed.

An extrusion meter 36 extending transversely between the slip forms 26is positioned beneath the frame 12 rearwardly of the vibrator, the samecomprising a generally L-shaped plate having a long horizontal legadapted to be compressively engaged with the surface of the concretemass. The extrusion meter 36 is adjustably but rigidly connected to themachine frame 22 so as to bring the total mass of the machine to bear onthe concrete through the extrusion meter, thereby to compact and smooththe concrete to essentially the final dimensions of the pavement. Theleading edge of the meter is raised slightly whereby the vibrated roadmaterial will pass with ease beneath the meter and thereafter becompressively extruded to final dimensions.

Disposed rearwardly of the extrusion meter 36 and extending transverselyof the machine between the slip forms 26 is the groove forming means ofthis invention. In this embodiment, wherein the paving machine isrequired to impart a variety of surface configurations to the pavement,e.g., sloping in either direction or centrally crowned as illustrated inFIG. 3, I prefer to provide two of the rolls 10, one for each half ofthe pavement being laid, so as to facilitate disposition of the rolls inpositions complemental to the surface configuration of the pavement. Therolls are suitably mounted in end to end relation, and each is affixedto the machine frame 22 by at least the respective pair of hydrauliccylinders 20. Also, the bearings 14 are preferably suitably mounted invertical guides provided on the frame 22 to afford a rigid mounting forthe rolls, yet one that accomodates independent vertical adjustment ofeach end of each roll so that each roll can be positioned parallel tothe respective underlying surface portion of the pavement. As previouslydescribed, each roll is equipped with a drive assembly 'l6l8 forrotating the roll as the machine moves forwardly and transports the rollbodily with it, whereby longitudinal grooves are formed in the pavementas the pavement is being laid. Specifically, by virtue of the rolls,there is a simultaneous grooving of the pavement in a longitudinaldirection while still in plastic condition and a smoothing of thesurfaces between the resulting grooves. Although the grooving rolls 10have been shown as extending over substantially the full width of thepaving machine between the slip forms 26, it will be appreciated thatthey may be disposed over only a portion thereof such as adjacent theouter edges'or in any other suitable patterndesired or required.

Also, the embodiment shown, by virtue of its hydraulic actuating jacksor cylinders 20, lends itself to groov-v ing selected longitudinalportions of a roadway, especially potentially dangerous areas such ascurves, intersections, interchanges, etc., while-leaving the rest of theroadway ungrooved. Specifically, the rolls 10 could normally be elevatedabove the concrete surface and be pressed downwardly, selectively, bysaid jacks into contact with said surface only in those areas wheregrooving was specified by the highway engineers.

Should a different form of groove be desired than the one now deemedadvantageous, it is apparent that the ribs 12 on the surface of the roll10 can be of different cross-sectional configuration, different size anddifferent spacing to attain whatever grooving may be specified.

As previously noted, it is preferable that the grooving means be mountedon or comprise the final concrete molding element of the pavingapparatus. However, this does not eliminate or render ineffectualconventional texturing or other final surface treatment of the concrete,such as a light burlap or broom drag.-

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, I have illustrated the transversegrooving machine which may for example be used in conjunction with aslip form paving machine such as shown in FIG. 2 hereof or as describedin detail in said Pat. No. 2,976,783; the illustrated machine riding onthe grade behind the paver and providing a groove forming roll asessentially the final concrete molding element of the assembly.Alternatively, the machine could be one devised to ride on side forms intrailing relation to a form type paver.

The machine of FIG. 4 comprises a frame portion 42 supporting the primemover 43 for variable speed drive of the machine as a whole and thegrooving roll 10. The frame portion 42 comprises spaced transverse andlongitudinal beams joined to opposite slip forms about which aredisposed articulated tracks, which may be driven jointly or separately,as previously explained in conjunction with HQ. 2.

Adjacent the front and rear thereof, the frame 42 includes paralleltransverse beams 44, such as channels or the like, which serve as railsfor the opposite ends of the longitudinally extending, transverselyreciprocable carriage 45, which may also be in the form of a channel.Mounted adjacent the ends of each beam 44 are a pair of sprockets 46over which a chain 47 is trained, the chain being connected at itsopposite ends to the carriage 45. One sprocket of each pair is coupledto the prime mover, by a reversible mechanical clutch (not shown) in thecase of a mechanical drive, or is provided with a reversible hydraulicor electric motor (not shown) in the case of a hydraulic or electricdrive, which is under the control of the machine operator whereby thechain may be reversely driven to reciprocate the carriage 45transversely of the machine frame, and thus transversely of the pavementlaid by the immediately preceding paver.

Mounted on and depending from adjacent the front and rear ends of thecarriage 45 are a pair of hydraulic or pnuematic cylinders which mountthe tube 10 to the carriage and which are adapted to raise the lower thesame into and out of contact with the still plastic or moldableconcrete. As with the structure of FIG. 2, the roll bearings 14 arepreferably slidably carried in vertical guides provided on the carriage45.

In use, the machine trails immediately behind the paver so as to work onthe concrete while it is still plastic. Assuming the carriage 45 to belocated adjacent one end of the tracks 44 and the grooving roll 10 to beraised, the machine is moved to a preselected location along thepavement and is stopped. The operator then actuates the cylinders 20 todrive the roll 10 downwardly to force the ribs 12 to their full depthinto the concrete adjacent one edge of the pavement, and to bring theperipheral-surface of the roll into contacting engagement with thesurface of the pavement, whereupon the roll may be rotated by its owndrive train. The drive sprockets 46 are then coupled to the drive meanstherefor to cause the chain 47 to pull the carriage 45, cylinders 20 androll 10 transversely across the pavement to adjacent the opposite edgethereof, whereby grooves are formed in the pavement and the surface ofthe pavement between the grooves is smoothed leave a smooth but groovedpavement surface as shown in FIG. 6.

When the carriage 45 reaches the end of the tracks 44 opposite thestarting position, the operator moves the roll 10 clear of the pavement,advances the machine the length of the roll 10 (which may for example beabout 8 to 16 or even 24 feet) and then repeats the above describedoperation, except for rotating and moving the roll in the oppositedirection, thereby to groove the next succeeding longitudinal segment ofthe pavement. The roll preferably is manipulated at the ends of its pathof movement in essentially the same manner as described in detail for atransversely operating extrusion meter in my co-pending application Ser.No. 212,256.

The grooves may extend over the full width of the pavement as abovedescribed, or may, by appropriate operation of the chain drive 46-47and/or the cylinders 20, extend over only a selected portion or one ormore selected transverse areas of the pavement surface. Similarly, bycontrolling the sequential advancing movements of the machine, theentirety or only selected longitudinal areas of the pavement may begrooved. Thus, potentially dangerous areas such as landing and takeoffareas, turns, curves, intersections, interchanges, etc. can beprotectively grooved while leaving the rest of the pavement ungrooved.Specifically, the roll 10 could normally be elevated above the concretesurface and be pressed downwardly by the cylinders or jacks 20 only inthose areas where grooving was specified.

Thus, it is to be appreciated that the present invention provides highlypractical and effective means for forming grooves in the surfaces ofpavements while they are still in plastic condition, and that theobjects and advantages of the invention are attained in a convenient andeconomical manner.

While I have shown and described what I regard to be the preferredembodiments of my invention, it is to be appreciated that variouschanges, rearrangements and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, as defined by the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A method of forming a series of spaced parallel grooves in thesurface of newly laid concrete pavement while the concrete is in plasticcondition which comprises progressively moving over the pavement arotating roller having a peripheral surface concentric with its axis ofrotation and consisting essentially of smooth uninterrupted cylindricalperipheral surface areas with a plurality of spaced parallel circularcircumferential ribs of shallow depth projecting radially outward fromthe peripheral surface perpendicular to said axis of rotation, rotatingsaid roller concentrically about its axis in a direction and at aperipheral speed for producing differential rotation of the rollerrelative to the pavement, and simultaneously adjustably pressing theroller against the upper surface of the pavement to embed said circularribs to their full depth in the pavement and to engage the interveningcylindrical areas of the peripheral surface of said roller against thesurface of the pavement.

2. Concrete pavement grooving means comprising an elongate cylindricalroller rotatable about its axis and having a peripheral surfaceconcentric with its axis of rotation and consisting essentially ofsmooth uninterrupted cylindrical peripheral surface areas with aplurality of spaced parallel circular circumferential ribs of shallowdepth projecting radially outward from the peripheral surfaceperpendicular to said axis of rotation, means for adjustably pressingsaid roller onto newly laid pavement while still in plastic condition toembed said circular ribs therein to their full depth and to engage theintervening smooth cylindrical surface areas of the roller against thepavement surface, means for rotating said roller concentrically aboutits axis in a direction and at a peripheral speed for producingdifferential rotation of the roller relative to the pavement while thesame is so pressed onto the pavement, and means for simultaneouslybodily moving said roller over the pavement.

3. Concrete pavement grooving means comprising a plurality of rollerseach mounted to extend transversely over respective transverse areas ofthe pavement for forming grooves longitudinally in selected areas of thepavement, each roller comprising an elongate cylindrical rollerrotatable about its axis and having aperipheral surface concentric withits axis-of rotation and consisting essentially of smooth uninterruptedcylindrical peripheral surface areas with a plurality of spaced parallelcircular circumferential ribs of shallow depth projecting radiallyoutward from the peripheral surface perpendicular to said axis ofrotation, means for adjustably pressing said rollers onto newly laidpavement while still in plastic condition to embed said circular ribstherein to their full depth and to engage the intervening smoothcylindrical surface areas of the rollers against the pavement surface,means for rotating said rollers concentrically about their axes in adirection and at a peripheral speed for producing differential rotationof the rollers relative to the pavement while the same are so pressedonto the pavement, and means for simultaneously bodily moving saidrollers over the pavement.

4. Concrete pavement grooving means comprising an elongate cylindricalroller rotatable about its axis and having a peripheral surfaceconcentric with its axis of rotation and consisting essentially ofsmooth uninterrupted cylindrical peripheral surface areas with aplurality of spaced parallel circular circumferential ribs of shallowdepth projecting radially outward from the peripheral surfaceperpendicular to said axis of rotation, means for adjustably pressingsaid roller onto newly laid pavement while still in plastic condition toembed said circular ribs therein to their full depth and to engage theintervening smooth cylindrical surface areas of the rolleragainst thepavement surface, means for rotating said roller concentrically aboutits axis in a direction and at a peripheral speed for producingdifferential rotation of the roller relative to the pavement while thesame is so pressed onto the pavement, means for simultaneously bodilymoving said roller over the pavement, said roller being mounted toextend longitudinally of the pavement for forming grooves transverselyin the pavement, means for engaging said roller with the pavementadjacent one longitudinal edge of the pavement, for moving said rollerbodily across the pavement transversely thereof and for removing saidroller from the pavement adjacent the other longitudinal edge thereof,and means mounting said roller for physical transport longitudinally ofthe pavement when the roller has been removed from the pavement.

1. A method of forming a series of spaced parallel grooves in thesurface of newly laid concrete pavement while the concrete is in plasticcondition which comprises progressively moving over the pavement arotating roller having a peripheral surface concentric with its axis ofrotation and consisting essentially of smooth uninterrupted cylindricalperipheral surface areas with a plurality of spaced parallel circularcircumferential ribs of shallow depth projecting radially outward fromthe peripheral surface perpendicular to said axis of rotation, rotatingsaid roller concentrically about its axis in a direction and at aperipheral speed for producing differential rotation of the rollerrelative to the pavement, and simultaneously adjustably pressing theroller against the upper surface of the pavement to embed said circularribs to their full depth in the pavement and to engage the interveningcylindrical areas of the peripheral surface of said roller against thesurface of the pavement.
 2. Concrete pavement grooving means comprisingan elongate cylindrical roller rotatable about its axis and having aperipheral surface concentric with its axis of rotation and consistingessentially of smooth uninterrupted cylindrical peripheral surface areaswith a plurality of spaced parallel circular circumferential ribs ofshallow depth projecting radially outward from the peripheral surfaceperpendicular to said axis of rotation, means for adjustably pressingsaid roller onto newly laid pavement while still in plastic condition toembed said circular ribs therein to their full depth and to engage theintervening smooth cylindrical surface areas of the roller against thepavement surface, means for rotating said roller concentrically aboutits axis in a direction and at a peripheral speed for producingdifferential rotation of the roller relative to the pavement while thesame is so pressed onto the pavement, and means for simultaneouslybodily moving said roller over the pavement.
 3. Concrete pavementgrooving means comprising a plurality of rollers each mounted to extendtransversely over respective transverse areas of the pavement forforming grooves longitudinally in selected areas of the pavement, eachroller comprising an elongate cylindrical roller rotatable about itsaxis and having a peripheral surface concentric with its axis ofrotation and consisting essentially of smooth uninterrupted cylindricalperipheral surface areas with a plurality of spaced parallel circularcircumferential ribs of shallow depth projecting radially outward fromthe peripheral surface perpendicular to said axis of rotation, means foradjustably pressing said rollers onto newly laid pavement while still inplastic condition to embed said circular ribs therein to their fulldepth and to engage the intervening smooth cylindrical surface areas ofthe rollers against the pavement surface, means for rotating saidrollers concentrically about their axes in a direction and at aperipheral speed for producing differential rotation of the rollersrelative to the pavement while the same are so pressed onto thepavement, and means for simultaneously bodily moving said rollers overthe pavement.
 4. Concrete pavement grooving means comprising an elongatecylindrical roller rotatable about its axis and having a peripheralsurface concentric with its axis of rotation and consisting essentiallyof smooth uninterrupted cylindrical peripheral surface areas with aplurality of spaced parallel circular circumferential ribs of shallowdepth projecting radially outward from the peripheral surfaceperpendicular to said axis of rotation, means for adjustably pressingsaid roller onto newly laid pavement while still in plastic condition toembed said circular ribs therein to their full depth and to engage theintervening smooth cylindrical surface areas of the roller against thepAvement surface, means for rotating said roller concentrically aboutits axis in a direction and at a peripheral speed for producingdifferential rotation of the roller relative to the pavement while thesame is so pressed onto the pavement, means for simultaneously bodilymoving said roller over the pavement, said roller being mounted toextend longitudinally of the pavement for forming grooves transverselyin the pavement, means for engaging said roller with the pavementadjacent one longitudinal edge of the pavement, for moving said rollerbodily across the pavement transversely thereof and for removing saidroller from the pavement adjacent the other longitudinal edge thereof,and means mounting said roller for physical transport longitudinally ofthe pavement when the roller has been removed from the pavement.